It seems like it’s been ages since ol’ BB went around the horn and checked out what was happening in all the corners of the internet. Let’s do just that, right now.
Bearcat News
The Bearcats baseball team defended the Nuxhall title, beating Xavier on Tuesday and Wright State last night. The Bearcats are the first team to win it twice in a row. The link from the News Record has a nice write up on both of the games. The Bearcats are now 17-14 on the season. I think UC took 2 of 3 against Louisville, but now I’m not sure. They might have lost 2 of 3. Anyway, they are playing good ball. If you live in New Jersey, or just want to take a road trip, the Bearcats play at Rutgers this weekend.
Speaking of baseball, Philly.com has a write up of future Bearcat Dave McInerney. Dave played hockey at a high level, before switching over to the diamond. Since he’s coming to UC on a scholarship, it was a good move.
Moving on to football, Down the Drive has a couple of Bearcats recruits covered. First, JUCO LB Greg Blair has signed on to play this season. Greg is the brother of San Antonio Spur DeJuan Blair. I’m assuming Greg has both ACLs. He looks exactly like DeJuan. Hopefully he is that big a force on the field.
Secondly, the Bearcats have their first recruit of 2012, Deionte Buckley. Buckley is a running back. His highlight video looks good, but no shit it looks good, because it’s a highlight video. No one makes a highlight video of them getting stopped for a 3 yard loss and fumbling. Buckley will be sharing the backfield next season with Jameel Poteat, Darrin Williams, and some other people. UC has added quite a bit of depth at the running back position.
The Orlando Sentinel ran down 10 Big East players to watch next season. UC was represented by Isaiah Pead and Zach Collaros. Lots of people expect the fireworks on offense this season. I know I do. I really like the offense. I hope the line holds up better than last year. It’s going to be important.
Staying on the football beat, former Bearcat lineman Jason Kelce visited the St Louis Rams. We all hope things work out well with Jason. He’s not expected to be a high draft pick, in fact no one in the Big East is expected to be. But, it looks like Jason could find a spot late in the draft, or sign as a free agent. Never the less, he’s going to get a shot to have an NFL career. All the best to Jason.
Bearcat baller next season, Jermaine Sanders, has been named the All Manhattan Player of the Year. That’s quite the honor for Sanders. He averaged 18 points a game in his senior season. Sanders was a finalist for Mr Basketball in NY as well. Sanders turned it on when the pressure was up, scoring 30 in the playoffs when his team scored 55. Sanders is 6’6, which means he could be a perfect wing player for the team in a year or two. Congrats to Jermaine.
As I was writing this, news broke that the Bearcats signed JUCO power forward Cheikh Mdodji. He’s 6-10 from Grayson CC. He’s a citizen of Senegal. The big man averaged 16 and 8 last year. The Bearcats are also in the mix for God’s Gift Achiuwa, who I really hope signs. G’sG and Cheikh visted UC together last weekend, so hopefully there is a bond. Nice signing.
The Bearcats and Reds are combining forces of good for UC night on April 29. That means tickets are discounted. That’s a good deal. Plus, it’s a Friday night, so no excuse not to go.
Speaking of the Reds, I’ve just about had it with Nick Masset. He was beyond awful last season in April, and he’s started that same way this season. I don’t know why Dusty keeps trotting him out in the 8th and 9th innings. I think it’s time to give Bray, or Ondrusek, or maybe even Jordan Smith a chance late. Clearly Masset doesn’t have control of his pitches right now. He’s a disaster every time he touches the hill. Someone needs to tell him it’s August so he can be lights out. Ugh. Fucking Masset.
Big East News
Voodoo 5 has your complete Big East expansion rundown. The basic jist is that Villanova has postponed a vote about moving up to division 1. It seems the sticking point is playing in a bigger stadium. PPL Park isn’t big enough for Big East standards. The other team rumored is UCF. As someone who is against the Big East having 792 teams for basketball, I’m hoping that they don’t expand any more. Basketball doesn’t matter though. All that matters is the football money. I don’t see how adding Nova will really help things in the short term. In the long term, maybe. As for UCF, I don’t care. Let them rot in C-USA.
The best thing about expansion talk has been that the Octonion returned. Nunes is the best.
Switching over to hoops, a trio of Big East players threw their names in the NBA draft. Kemba Walker was a giant no duh. Terrence Jennings of Louisville threw his name in the ring. Carleton Scott of Notre Dame did the same. Scott seems like he’ll be back, but Jennings is a different story. As Mike from CC wrote in the Jennings piece, Jennings wants out of Louisville. Maybe he’ll reconsider. It seems very weird that not only Jennings put his name in the draft, but so did Samardo Samuels last year. Neither one was expected to be drafted. Both didn’t like it at Louisville. What is Pitino doing to the big men? Speaking of the draft, here is a list of every early entrant.
Finally, UC is suing Bearcat Cafe. I am a little surprised at this. That places has been open forever. If the Bearcats are getting around to it now, I’m sure someone with a blog titled Bearcat Blog will be able to hide from them for the next 750 years. At least. Let’s not point this site out to any of the UC brass. Or, point it out and make them hire me.
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